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32 killed in Iraq blasts

BAGHDAD: A series of bombs struck U.S. and Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul on Monday, killing at least 32 people and wounding dozens, said officials.

The attacks were a grim reminder of the dangers facing Iraqis as they try to take over their own security. At least 16 people were killed and 46 wounded in a nearly simultaneous double bombing near a police academy in eastern Baghdad.

A suicide attacker detonated explosives vest packed with ball-bearings at an entrance to the academy, then a car bomb exploded about 150 m away, apparently aimed at those responding to the initial blast, said the U.S. military.

The blasts occurred within minutes of each other on Palestine Street, according to police and witnesses.

Bloodied police uniforms and a military boot left by victims were scattered with the crumpled metal hulk of the car bomb on the charred street in the aftermath of the bombing, according to Associated Press Television News footage. Those killed included five policemen and 11 recruits, while the wounded included 11 policemen and 35 recruits, said the police. In Mosul, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives as a joint U.S.-Iraqi convoy drove by in a crowded commercial area, said a policeman. — AP

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